Post by maninashed on Oct 10, 2013 14:31:09 GMT
Chet Atkins was playing in a studio one time and an observer said 'That guitar sounds beautiful.' Chet stopped playing and after short pause replied 'How does it sound now?'
I started to take playing the acoustic guitar seriously a few months ago and in that time I've come to realise it's not just about getting all the right notes in the right order but what you as the player do with them that makes the music and the guitar sound good.
At first, I tried to transfer my electric style to the acoustic and kept coming up against limitations. On the electric, I hybrid pick with a flat pick and finger picks and palm mute on the bridge. On acoustic I had to movie my picking hand off the bridge where it dampened the soundboard and move it nearer the neck to get a fuller tone, then the finger picks affected my picking speed so they had to go. Then, recording myself, I heard I was choking off notes with my left hand by moving to the next note too quickly, so I had to change my fingering to let the notes ring when necessary and damp them when required. These are just some examples where I've had to alter and adapt my technique but I'm getting to the stage where I can get my plywood top Taiwanese Yamaha to sound quite nice and on some rare occasions even feel that spine tingling sensation of music flowing from my fingers rather than trying to play it, even on simple pieces. I'm starting to get the sense that I'll be learning these things and perfecting my technique as long as I play the guitar.
I touched on this in my introduction thread and it was suggested it might make a good topic for a thread here, so I'd be very interested in anybody's advice, opinions and observations on tips and techniques on how to get the most out your instrument.
I started to take playing the acoustic guitar seriously a few months ago and in that time I've come to realise it's not just about getting all the right notes in the right order but what you as the player do with them that makes the music and the guitar sound good.
At first, I tried to transfer my electric style to the acoustic and kept coming up against limitations. On the electric, I hybrid pick with a flat pick and finger picks and palm mute on the bridge. On acoustic I had to movie my picking hand off the bridge where it dampened the soundboard and move it nearer the neck to get a fuller tone, then the finger picks affected my picking speed so they had to go. Then, recording myself, I heard I was choking off notes with my left hand by moving to the next note too quickly, so I had to change my fingering to let the notes ring when necessary and damp them when required. These are just some examples where I've had to alter and adapt my technique but I'm getting to the stage where I can get my plywood top Taiwanese Yamaha to sound quite nice and on some rare occasions even feel that spine tingling sensation of music flowing from my fingers rather than trying to play it, even on simple pieces. I'm starting to get the sense that I'll be learning these things and perfecting my technique as long as I play the guitar.
I touched on this in my introduction thread and it was suggested it might make a good topic for a thread here, so I'd be very interested in anybody's advice, opinions and observations on tips and techniques on how to get the most out your instrument.